&#034May God defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies.&#034 -Duc de Villars

I love my friends. I love spending time with them. I just hate that so many of them are so far away that I see them only rarely. Like this weekend, for example. I went up to Lafayette to spend time with my friend Nick, and already I&#039m missing his sarcastic humor and arrogant wit. At any rate, enough moping about how so many of my friends are scattered to the winds, and here&#039s my weekend.

So Friday after work, Nick picked me up, and we came here to the apartment to get my stuff for the weekend. The two-hour car trip didn&#039t feel all that long because we hadn&#039t seen each other in over a month, so there was some random catching up to do. Once at his parents&#039 house, I met his mom who was really nice and showed me pics of Nick when he was a little kid much to his dismay. His dad showed up, and I briefly met him. Then we went out to eat at a Logan&#039s Steakhouse before returning to his parents&#039 place where I met his younger sister and we watched The Last Samurai and the third Matrix movie. We talked through most of them, though I did think the part in The Last Samurai where Cruise&#039s character named the old Japanese dude &#034Bob&#034 was pretty funny.

Saturday, I got up early to get a shower in before the Loudon clan started getting ready for the wedding. We left around one or so to get to Peru by 2:30. The &#034church&#034 looked more like a theatre so it didn&#039t give me the willies too much. Regardless, it always bothers me to be in a church of any sort, even if I&#039m there just for the architecture. The reception was spent being introduced to Nick&#039s uncles, aunts, and cousins. Nick and I got bored and whiled away the last hour there playing with the glass bead decorations on the table. Back at his parents&#039 house, his family went out to eat while we caught the Saturday anime marathon on Cartoon Network. We grabbed Arby&#039s after Dragonball GT and kept watching TV and talking until late.

Sunday we got up early so we&#039d have time to drive around Lafayette and West Lafayette. I&#039d never been up there, so everything was new to me. We drove around his suburb then past his elementary school and high school. He showed me the house where he used to live when he was younger, and then we headed to West Lafayette so I could see just how large the Purdue campus is. Lots of brick there, by the way. We hit the Tippacanoe mall in Lafayette after that, going by the pet store so I could see the bunnies. Then I got a tea infusor at this coffee/tea shop, and I picked up the second Harry Potter PS2 game at Game Stop where Nick got &#034Nosferatu&#034 for PC. We ate at a pizza place there in the mall, then went back to his parents&#039 where he installed his game, and I watched him play for a couple hours before we left to come to Terre Haute. Ian was playing my Simpsons&#039 &#034Hit and Run&#034 game when I got here, and we ordered Footers rather than fix something. Neither of us have been in the mood to cook lately. I blame the summer heat. It&#039s making us both lazy. <Wink> He left to go work on Lushbaugh&#039s computer, and I played SWG while talking to Dave (Kokomo Dave), Dave (SWG Dave), and Nick on-line. I went to bed around midnight &#039cause I was tired from all the driving around.

That&#039s pretty much my weekend in a nutshell. I feel like cleaning right now, or napping. Or possibly playing SWG or &#034Hit and Run&#034 or the Harry Potter game. Um, I haven&#039t decided yet. All I know is that I need more caffeine if I&#039m going to do anything other than napping. I plan to go walking with Lushbaugh tonight at 8, so I need my energy. Talk to you (the three or four of you who actually come here) later.

Posted: July 12, 2004 at uh, well, just about five in the afternoon.